The Dissolving Matter of the Alka-Seltzer tablet!

Broad Question

Does Pepsi make an Alka-Seltzer tablet dissolve faster than water?

Specific Question

Which kind of liquids does an Alka-Seltzer tablet dissolve faster in?

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that the Alka-Seltzer tablet will dissolve faster in the Pepsi. This is due to the chemicals and carbonation of the soft drink.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables-

Independent Variable:

~Type of liquids.

Dependent Variable:

~Time it takes for the Alka-Seltzer tablets to dissolve.

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

• The amount of liquid
• Same amount of time in liquid
• Same size tablets
• Measure with same ruler
• Same temperature of the liquid
• Same type of cups
• Same size cups
• Time with same timer
• Same company for tablets

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

dissolve means to melt and become part of liquid.
effervescent means to emit small bubbles of gas, as a carbonated or fermenting liquid.
antacid mean counteracting or neutralizing acidity, especially of the stomach.
inflammation means to produce inflammation in (a tissue or organ).
phosphoric acid means a clear colorless liquid, used in fertilizers, detergents, food flavoring, and pharmaceuticals(of or relating to pharmacy or pharmacists).
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General Plan

The General Plan for this experiment was using different kinds of liquids (water, Gatorade, Pepsi, and Monster Energy drink) to see which kind of liquids makes an Alka-Seltzer tablet dissolve faster. The experiment took place in Josiah Bartlett Elementary School on March 6th. Two students conducted this experiment. A timer was used to see how much time it took the Alka-Seltzer tablet to dissolve. Clear cups were used and each cup had the same amount of liquid. One by one, an Alka-Seltzer tablet was dropped into each cup of a different liquid. Then, the time was recorded in seconds.

The independent variables are the types of liquids. The dependent variable are the dissolving times of the Alka-Seltzer tablets. It was important to control the amount of liquid in each cup, same size tablets, measure with the same ruler and equipment, same type of cups, and same temperature of the liquids. Potential problems in this experiment are that the Pepsi or Monster Energy drink might have a reaction with the Alka-Seltzer tablets, so goggles will be used.

Experimental Design-

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Price	Place
Dixie Cups	$1.00	Dollar Tree
Pepsi (3 cans)	$0.00	Janki’s House
Green Monster Energy Drink (2 cans)	$3.98	Walmart
Tap Water	0.00	Mr. Yahna’s Classroom
Gatorade	$2.00	Walmart
Timer	$0.00	Hannah’s Ipod
Thermometer	$0.00	Mr. Yahna

Time Line

Feb. 29- Design Draft DueMar. 2- Final Design DueMar. 6- Mar. 8- Run ExperimentMar. 8 Finish ExperimentMar. 23- Data, Observation, Evidence DueMar. 25- Results and ConclusionApr. 1- Apr. 12- Wiki Page DueApr. 23- Finish Display BoardApr. 27- Display Board Due

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Background Research

The research is on the ingredients of each type of liquid that is going to be used for the experiment. Research is also on the alka-seltzer tablets and their ingredients. Look at the different ingredients to see which mix best together from a liquid to the tablet. It is hypothesized that the tablet would dissolve best into the Pepsi. The carbonation of the soda may effect the way that tablet dissolves and it is decided it would be a positive effect. Know that Alka-Seltzer mostly dissolved into water, and most people use water. So the experiment compares the Monster Energy Drink, Pepsi, and Gatorade to the water, to show people how well the liquid dissolves the tablet.

References

Detailed Procedure

1. Gather all of our needed supplies (Gatorade, Pepsi, Water, Monster Energy Drink, Dixie cups, Alka-Seltzer, and a timer).2. Label each cup with its drink.3. Pour the drinks into the labeled cups.4. Measure the ounces of liquids in each cup5.Measure the tablets6. Take out the Alka-Seltzer tablets and one by one drop them into the cups7. When the Alka-Seltzer tablet is dropped into the cup, the timer should be ready to time the time it took for the tablet to dissolve
8. Compare the results to determine which drink best dissolved the tablets and average out the drinks with the same types of liquids with all of the trials.

Photo List

1.) 1 picture of the cylinder and scale used to weigh the liquid2.) 3 pictures of the experiment3.) 1 picture of the overall results4.) 1 picture of a trial result

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Results

As the experiment was conducted, there were 5 trials. The results of this project has shown that water is the best type of liquid at dissolving an Alka-Seltzer tablet. There was water with an average of 95.20 seconds. The second fastest was the Monster Energy drink with an average of 113.40 seconds. Also, there was gatorade with an average of 121.80 seconds. Last, but not least the slowest was pepsi with an average of 165 seconds.

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

"Cylinder with Gatorade to measure the amount of liquid"



"Tablet being dissolved in Monster Energy drink"



"Tablet being dissolved in Pepsi"



"Tablet being dissolved in Gatorade"



"Overall trial results"



"Results of trial 1"

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Conclusion

Basically, the experiment was about taking Alka-Seltzer tablets and dropping them into four different types of liquids to see which one dissolves the tablet the fastest. The independent variable is the liquids used which were Monster Energy drink, Gatorade, Pepsi, and water. The dependent variable was the Alka- Seltzer tablet. Water dissolved the tablet the fastest. The average for water was 95.2 seconds, the Monster Energy was 113.4 seconds, the Gatorade was 121.8 seconds, Pepsi was 165 seconds. Unfortunately, Pepsi was the slowest at dissolving the Alka-Seltzer tablet, which was thought to be the fastest at dissolving the tablet.

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Discussion

The question was what kinds of liquids dissolves an Alka-Seltzer tablet the best. The answer to this experiment is water. Unfortunately, Pepsi, which was the hypothesis, was the slowest of them all. Making the hypothesis unsupported by the data. The pattern in this experiment was that Alka-Seltzer would always dissolve in the least amount of time with water. Gatorade and the Monster Energy drink were right in between Pepsi and Water. They were not that slow or fast. Pepsi was the slowest of all of the liquids. Water was the fastest because of one of its properties known as water polarity. The form of polarity that occurred in this experiment was adhesion. All 5 trials show that Pepsi took the most time to dissolve the tablet. Everything was very consistent and the data was very steady and correct.
There were originally 7 trials, but 2 trials had to be discarded. The results for the Monster Energy drink and the Gatorade data showed that it was a little bit unstable due to a yellow tablet that looked very old. This yellow tablet was used for one of the 7 trials. It took an unusually long time for it to dissolve in one of the Monster Energy drink and the Gatorade. That data threw all of the other data off. To resolve this problem the outlying data (the largest number and smallest number of all the data was discarded from the experiment). However, Pepsi was still the slowest of all of the liquids after this change. Something that could be changed in this experiment is that the people who conducted should’ve checked all the tablets. They should’ve looked to see if there any different looking ones in all of the packets. The technology used to conduct this experiment was a thermometer (to make sure that the drinks were the same temperature) and time (to time how many seconds it took for the tablet to dissolve). For future input, the tablets should be the same size, color, and have the same expiration date. Also, the drinks should be the same temperature (room temperature is suggested). Knowledge gained from this experiment will be of used for the society because when people are sick they will know what drink to put the cold relief medicine in. Many people use Alka-Seltzer as a cold relief medicine because it is easy to take. It is effective, so it’s good for them to know the best way to use it. These results will lead to people to still use water for their cold relief tablets.

Abstract

This experiment was to show how much time it took for an Alka-Seltzer tablet to dissolve in different liquids. There were 4 varieties of drinks such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Monster Energy, and water. The hypothesis of this experiment was that Pepsi would make it dissolve faster than the other liquids. This is due to the chemicals and the carbonation in the soft drink. Water is the best kind of liquid that makes an Alka-Seltzer tablet dissolve the fastest.